No one likes to talk about what happens when things go wrong. A crisis, a sudden resignation, a family emergency, a market shake-up, whatever it is, your business is either ready for it, or it’s not.
Recently, we had one of those moments. The kind that tests your systems, your culture, and your people all at once. And here’s what we learned:
Train and Trust Your Team
It sounds super obvious, but too many businesses still treat their people like cogs in a machine, not decision-makers in their own right. When you build a culture that champions ownership, upskilling, and autonomy, your team will surprise you.
In fact, a study by Gallup found that companies with high employee engagement (which includes trust and autonomy) outperform their peers by 21% in profitability and 17% in productivity. And when the pressure’s on? That trust pays dividends.
During our crunch moment, team members didn’t wait for permission. They problem-solved, picked up new tasks, and took initiative. Why? Because we’ve spent years investing in their skills and decision-making confidence, not micromanaging.
Upskill your people before you need to. Give them context, not just tasks. Trust them to act like leaders, even if that’s not in their job title (yet).
Systems Are Essential — Not Optional
There’s a dangerous assumption in many businesses that only one person needs to know how to do something… until that person’s unavailable.
We follow a simple rule:
The top 20% of your role, the do-or-die stuff, should be easy to find and easy to action, even by someone brand new.
According to PwC’s Global Crisis Survey, 95% of business leaders expect a crisis to hit within the next two years, yet only 35% have a crisis response plan in place. That’s a massive risk.
When someone needed to step in for a leadership role, it wasn’t a scavenger hunt. Key contacts, login credentials, critical projects, and top-level responsibilities were mapped and accessible.
No guesswork. No “I think they usually…” conversations.
So...audit your critical workflows and task ownership. Can someone else pick it up tomorrow if needed? If the answer’s no — you’ve got work to do.
EA’s Are life-savers
Executive Assistants don’t just book meetings and file expenses. Done right, they’re walking continuity plans.
A great EA knows their leader’s calendar, inbox, working style, priorities, and people inside out. They keep business moving without missing a beat.
In our crunch situation, each leadership team member had an EA who could step in, reroute, reprioritise, and handle sensitive matters without a playbook. They weren’t guessing, they already knew how their exec operated.
And industry data backs this up: A Harvard Business Review study found that highly effective EAs can increase an executive’s productivity by up to 40%!
Invest in your EA function. Pair them tightly with their leaders. Include them in strategy. And watch your continuity risk plummet.
This Is What De-Risking Your Business Really Looks Like
Risk management isn’t just about insurance and compliance checklists. It’s about resilience. It’s about building a business where:
✅ Systems back up humans
✅ Humans back up systems
✅ And no single point of failure can take you down.
When you cultivate trust, clear systems, and strong support networks, you reduce panic, pressure, and chaos. You create a business where people feel safe to step up, not shut down.
Future-Proofing Isn’t a Luxury
The businesses that thrive long-term aren’t just the ones with the shiniest CRM or biggest client list. They’re the ones with invisible strength; their people, their processes, and their ability to adapt when life throws a curveball.
If you’re not actively training, systemising, and backing up your critical roles — you’re not resilient. You’re lucky.
And luck runs out.
